House GOP chair Mark Green announces retirement after Mayorkas impeachment

Feb. 14 (UPI) -- House Homeland Security Chairman and Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee announced Wednesday he will retire from Congress when his term ends in less than a year. The announcement comes one day after he oversaw the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

"At the start of the 118th Congress, I promised my constituents to pass legislation to secure our borders and to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable," Green said in a statement. "Today with the House having passed H.R. 2 and Secretary Mayorkas impeached, it is time for me to return home."

"Our country -- and our Congress -- is broken beyond most means of repair," Green added. "I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington. As I have done my entire life, I will continue serving this country -- but in a new capacity."

In announcing he would not seek re-election, Green -- who was first elected to the House in 2018 -- did not elaborate on what he will do next.

Green's name is among those being floated as a possible 2026 Republican candidate for governor, The Tennessean reported. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's term ends in 2027.

Green, a doctor and retired U.S. Army major, served Tennessee's Seventh Congressional District for three terms.

Green served as a flight surgeon during the mission that captured Saddam Hussein and later wrote about his experience interviewing the Iraqi leader in a book called "A Night with Saddam."

Green joins a number of Republicans -- and GOP committee chairs -- who have announced they will not seek reelection, including House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger, R-Texas.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., announced Saturday he will also not seek re-election, following his controversial vote not to impeach Mayorkas, saying "Congress is no place to grow old."